Clouded Lives
by Titansgirl-otherstuff
Summary: When the gang comes across a world with a strangely familiar presence, trouble arises for Fai and they seem to be stuck for awhile until things can be sorted out. But how can you sort out a foreign life from your own when memories that were never yours to begin with persist into your mind?
1. Broken Arrivals

**A/N: HELLOOO whatever shattered pieces that may remain of a broken fandom! I know you didn't click this fic to read a long a wordy author's note, so I'll make this brief. I haven't been on fanfiction for a few years now but recently found a bunch of abandoned stories while cleaning out my old documents…and some of them were very long and with better plots than I remembered…this one I already have over 50,000 words written for that I didn't remember but I'd like to try my hand at the Tsubasa stories, so I'll be re-writing or editing the story and posting chapters as I go.**

**A FEW IMPORTANT THINGS TO NOTE BEFORE READING: This story takes place after ALL events of the anime AND manga. Personally, I felt the ending of the anime was a little (or VERY) lacking and therefore I'd like to warn in advance that anyone who hasn't had the opportunity to read the manga may find this story lacking quite a bit of background information. If you would like to read anyone, please be my guest and any questions you have I will be happy to answer via private message (I love giving spoilers but only if you are okay with it).**

**I really can't stress how much I love the Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles, even after a few years, so I hope to meet a few fellow fans through this story. I will spend a little more time on personal notes like this later perhaps, but for now, I'm sure you're all ready to read! Last few things, however:**

**Rating specifics: This fic is rated T for teen due to some very occasional inappropriate language, implications, and adult scenes. If I could rate it T+ I would, because in later chapters there will be some quite mature moments, but not quite worthy of an M rating. No lemons, I swear, but that's about all I can promise you. You have been warned, haha.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa Chronicles or any of its characters and am in no way affiliated with CLAMP other than a deep love for their stories. I do, however, own this idea, since it came from my head, and hope that you will enjoy my story with respect for its integrity. **

**Happy reading!**

I was rather fond of travelling. The past few years' equivalent had been composed of nothing but; anything else was far from natural. Of course, that wasn't constant movement. We could stay in one place for a few weeks, even a month or so, at a time now, seeing as how there was no deadline or quest to fulfill awaiting us. It was easier to relax now.

Of course, there were a still few...problems. Not every world we came across, as could be expected, was exactly perfect. We were not always welcomed guests; didn't always find a realm of perfect peace; sometimes even had to run away before something truly terrible could occur due to our presence. But that was all just part of the adventure.

Some worlds...some worlds were bad in different way. An emotionally painful place...that kind of thing was also inevitable. This was going to be one of those worlds...I could tell from the moment we arrived.

"Well, here we are," Mokona announced as we emerged from the magic circle that enabled our transportation. No sooner than that, however, I felt invaded by an unwelcome presence. One that I could've easily identified, had it not practically knocked the wind out of me, causing me to crumble to my knees with the sudden headaching wave.

"Oh wow, it must be autumn here or something; look at all the colors on the trees," Syaoran said brightly, always the first to observe our surroundings thoroughly. It made me smile, despite the sudden discomfort. In fact, I almost hoped they wouldn't turn around and notice me; that might ruin the mood.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Kurogane asked. Of course, no bliss could last.

"There's..." I trailed off, trying to fight this presence all around me but nowhere in sight; it threatened to swallow up my consciousness if I didn't hang on tight enough.

Mokona must have noticed, as it jumped to my shoulder with a valid explanation. "There's something strange about this world. It's a presence similar to Fai's; I'm afraid it's making him feel bad."

I couldn't have explained better myself.

"Should we leave now, then? Before something bad happens?" Syaoran suggested.

"Mokona doesn't think that's a good idea," Mokona said in slight dismay.

"Why not?" Kurogane asked, just as impatient as ever.

"No, Mokona's right," I said, struggling slightly back to my feet. I took a deep breath and tried to acquisition myself to the feeling. "There's some sort of life form or power here similar to my own. It caught me off guard and weakened me slightly just now, so I apologize if I scared you. Normally the best choice would be to move along before getting into something like this, but if we tried that right now, at least without even finding out what caused this, I might-"

I broke off, noticing a pedestrian frozen in their tracks not but a few feet away. Of course this was a common reaction when strangers appeared out of nowhere into someone's town. The peculiar part was, however, that she did not stare at _us_...rather than just me. Just me, and practically right into my soul.

"Y...Yui," she said, tears already filling her eyes.

"W...but I..." confusion hit me fast and hard. Who was this woman and why did she recognize me? More importantly, though..._how_ did I recognize _her?_

"My…what are you," she gasped the slightest bit, closing her eyes as the tears spilled out. She dropped the basket of vegetables she was holding and rushed over to me. To ME! Her arms went around me and I caught her before we both fell over in such a natural way I wondered where the muscle memory had come from. "Welcome back."

"No...I..." I fell to my knees on the ground again and she dropped with me, arms latched around me so tightly...so lovingly. But why did none of it seem...out of place?

…

_This is wrong. You don't belong here. You have to get _out. Now!

...But how could I? I didn't _want_ to get out, so why should I have to? Besides...I wasn't lonely here. Why wasn't I lonely? Shouldn't I be? It was so dark; so empty. I hadn't even found the world my mind was falling into yet. I was still falling. Cold and dark and...not lonely.

I felt warmth though. Through the cold I felt a warmth; someone grabbing my hand. And I looked through the dark and saw a light. It was him; holding my hand right there beside me. That's why I wasn't alone. It was...

_Fai._

My heart began pounding. I couldn't catch my breath; the excitement and ecstasy was too great! I wanted to call out to him; to pull him closer and hold him and never let his body slip away from me again! My other half; a part of me I had long since lost...and never thought I'd see again. He was here with me. I was here with him. And I didn't ever want to leave him again.

"I'm sorry," I couldn't speak aloud, but the words echoed in my head. I knew that he could hear them too. "This time I promise that I will protect you."

He smiled. I tightened my grip on his hand; this time I wasn't letting go. But then...something cold. Colder than the darkness around me...just one drop of the cold directly on my left eye lid. No significant amount or weight...but it was. So. Cold! And the next thing I knew, I couldn't focus on any feeling other than that cold. It took me over...and I lost Fai's hand in the dark. I was jerked far too brutally and abruptly back into my living bodily vessel.

"Huh?" I opened my eyes and sat up quickly, not even having noticed I had gone unconscious. It had been such a natural thing, closing my eyes and relaxing into the familiarly foreign arms of a not so alien stranger…and that relaxation just took over and…I let my guard down and allowed in the strange presence around me.

I looked around quickly and saw the others- Kurogane, Syaoran, and Mokona- all sitting around me in a small room. My vision quickly homed in and found the source of the cold that had dragged me out of my long awaited state of bliss. An eye dropper in Kurogane's hand with just a few drops of a brilliant blue liquid. I lost control in that moment of panic and fell against the dark ninja holding the offending tool.

"What were you thinking?! Why would you _do_ that?!" I demanded, clutching his shirt just for something to occupy my now all too empty hands. "I DIDN'T WANT TO-"

I was cut off as one of his strong hands clamped around my shoulder and jolted me back to look him in the face. "You didn't want to wake up? Because if we hadn't intervened there, you wouldn't have."

I took a rather sharp breath, eyes wide, and let his cold words sink in. "You mean..." I sighed. "It was a dream." I felt the panic draining from me, replaced by a lack of all emotion in general and my head fell into my hands, as if they could block out this constant droning headache that the world itself seemed to be producing.

"Yui," it was the woman again- apparently I had failed to notice her behind me- who kneeled on the floor and put a hand on my shoulder. "No, I'm sorry. You're not the Yui. I thought you were at first but...I couldn't bare to lose you too."

"It was a...dream," I repeated, still trying to comprehend that one part of the situation.

"You passed out when we first got here when Miss Valerie hugged you," Mokona said. "She let us bring you here to her home, but then Kuro-kun said you weren't breathing anymore. Miss Valerie helped us wake you up so you wouldn't die and here we are now!"

"Thanks you...Miss Valerie I presume?" I addressed the woman behind me. She gave a strained smile and nodded. Looking at her face was so peculiar; so much about her was familiar even though it shouldn't have been. She had the same pail white skin as myself but white dark brown, almost black, hair that contrasted her face entirely. Her eyes, however, were almost terrifying to me. They were a stunning blue, not quite like the color of the magic formerly held in my own eyes…but closer than any I'd seen.

"Yes. And please don't feel indebted to me; if I hadn't been able to help...well, I'm just very glad that I was," her smile fell slightly. "Your friends explained to me that you're travelers who just came to this world...and that I've probably never met you before. But the Yui I know from this world...he has your same essence. That's why I was confused at first, but..."

"No, I understand entirely. Please don't feel bad," I assured her. There was something about this woman that seemed far too familiar to me. It was almost uncomfortable, considering I hadn't met her before. I couldn't have, could I?

"Well now that Fai's awake, we can decide what we'll do next. Mokona doesn't think it's safe to leave yet; if Fai's still weak he won't be able to properly leave this world and something could go wrong. But if Fai is ready to leave now, we can go."

"No," Kurogane answered for me. "If there's something about this world that we need to stay and find out about, then that's what we'll have to do," he turned to me. "Am I right, wizard?"

"Kuro..." I trailed off, realizing this decision was my call...not that I was really given a call if my mental and physical state was like this. "I'm sorry...but I think we'll have to stay here for some time."

"Don't be sorry. None of us mind, especially if that's what needs to be done," Syaoran said reassuringly.

"And you're all much more than welcome to stay here," Valerie offered quickly. "Please; I've been living alone here for some time now and have plenty of extra space. I'd feel awful if I let you all go with no place to stay, plus...I'd really like to know more about what's going on with Yui-oh, I mean..."

Her face seemed so dismayed as she thought over the name she'd heard my group address me by; I couldn't stand that face. I lifted her chin so that she could look me in the eyes and hear the sincerity in my voice. "Please...I would love it if you would call me Yui."

"I...thank you," and instantly that bright smile of hers returned. How could it seem so familiar? Admittedly, she had a face and size similar to Chi's, but her hair wasn't quite as long and much darker of course…and the eyes.

"Now if one of you wouldn't mind," I turned to my three traveling companions. "How long exactly was I asleep?"

"Not too long; don't worry," Syaoran said. "It was yesterday around midday and right now it's only early evening. Valerie has explained her situation to Kurogane-san and I and we've told her about us, so now all that's really left is for you to catch up a little I suppose."

"Excellant," I smiled, finally making a recovery from my previous disorientation and trying to act more like myself.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry!" Valerie gasped slightly. "What a terrible host I'm being! Here, would any of you like anything? I could show _you_ around the house now if you're up to it, Yui?"

I smiled brightly, hopefully concealing any discomfort I felt as I stood up. I was still a little dizzy from the throbbing in my head, but it was nothing that could keep me incapacitated any longer now. "I would love that."

Valerie smiled again, a gesture that I was sure it would take some getting used to before I could completely skip over the urge to laugh or just hug her for being so cute,- which was odd of course- but nodded as she got to her feet as well.

"Well now that F-or, Yui I suppose is awake, is there anything Kurogane-san and I could do for you ma'am? We could run to the market or something if you'd like?" Syaoran offered politely.

"Oh there's only a few things, but I wouldn't want to send you out of your way to get them right now," she said thoughtfully.

"It's no trouble," Kurogane smiled. "It'd give us something to do for a while anyway."

"Okay then," she smiled. "If you boys will follow me to the kitchen I'll give you a list and some shopping money."

Syaoran fell into step behind her into the hall, but Kurogane stopped me before either of us exited the room, his always firm grip around my arm. "I assume you'll keep me updated on the inner happenings in this world," he said, no question in his tone.

It was alright; I didn't purposefully try to keep things from anyone anymore. In fact, it was almost comforting to know that I wasn't alone in that sense; not with Kuro-pu around anyway. "Can we talk tonight?"

"Fine by me," he said, releasing me and then leading the way out into the rather small and dimly lit hallway, which led into a snug kitchen.

The room itself was a fair size, but with all the cabinets, long table, and counter tops there really wasn't much unoccupied space. It was comforting in a way though; like the kitchen itself was too full to show any signs of neglect. Personally, I couldn't stand an empty kitchen; there were less possibilities to create.

"Alright, you remember the way to town, right? It's pretty straight forward from the main road, but any of the neighbors could give you directions if you need them. Unfortunately, I'm a terrible navigator and I probably wouldn't be doing you much good by word of mouth."

"That's quite alright; I'm sure we'll find it," Syaoran said.

"Okay. Here's a list and some money, but if you can't find everything on here don't worry about it; nothing here is really urgent."

"Thank you; we'll do our best and be back soon," Syaoran said, taking the list and folding it into a pocket in his pants.

That was the first I noticed of their new garments, apparently to match the style of this world. Both of them wore rather plain looking jeans and a black and light blue shirt respectively. Valerie wore jeans as well and a similarly plain light purple shirt that hung like a short dress. I assumed the fashion of this world was really nothing particularly fancy or outrageous; honestly this was among one of the most common trends we had encountered among dimensions.

I was still in my original clothing, which was all the better for me, considering I had been passed out, but knew that wouldn't last for long unless I wanted to stick out like a sore thumb here...not that I thought I'd be off and exploring anytime soon.

Syaoran, Kurogane and Mokona departed so Valerie and I were the only ones left in the fairly sized house. It was a wonder she didn't get too lonely here, what with all the empty rooms I'd seen...but there was always the aforementioned occupation in the kitchen.

"Would you like anything? A cup of tea or coffee or something to eat perhaps?" Valerie offered hospitably.

"Actually, I'd love some coffee if it's not any trouble."

"No, none at all. Would you like to sit outside and talk or in here?"

"It looks quite nice outside, but what would you prefer? I don't want to be a trouble."

"Oh no! I love this time of year and I was actually hoping you wouldn't mind sitting out on the porch with me," she laughed a little. "You can go out right there and make yourself comfortable; I'll be right out with some coffee. How do you take yours?"

"Just a half teaspoon of sugar is all for me please."

"Huh. Okay then, I'll be right there."

"Thank you so much," I smiled and followed her directions out to the porch where there was a little lawn table and a cushioned bench. It really was nice out; the sun shone down and warmed the chilly, breezy world below and the smells of dirt and leaves drifted around. From what I'd encountered on journeys, this was the basic concept of autumn, though I hadn't seen much of it altogether so far.

"Here you are," she said, setting two coffee mugs on the table. "Tell me if it's not sweet enough or too sweet."

I tried a sip and smiled in approval. "Perfect. Thank you."

She smiled back but her eyes didn't quite match the gesture, falling to gaze into her own cup. "Please forgive me but...you're just so much like him. So much like Yui was."

"Might I ask...who he..." I didn't want to bring up painful memories for her, but I'm sure I'd be doing the same things for her sake to give a response soon.

"No, it's fine. He was my brother, you see. We all lived here when I was younger...Mom and Dad, my two other sisters, and our younger twin brothers. Yui and Fai," she explained.

That was it. I felt my breath catch involuntarily but tried not to react too much; I didn't want to distract from this story, as I knew it was already going to be a hard one for her to tell.

"Our dad...he never approved. Of anything, really, but especially the twins. Fai and Yui were always rather distant like they were in their own world; just them there together. He said it wasn't natural; that twins shouldn't be two halves of one whole and that they should be more individualistic. But not them...there were always together. All the way until the end.

"Things started to get bad when our mother died," she continued after a slow sip of her own coffee. "Dad was gone on business most of the time so it was just my sisters and I taking care of things for the most part anyway, but without Mom here anymore...I think that was just the excuse he needed to make them change.

"Dad tried to seperate them; he thought that then they would act differently but...it really only made things worse. On his next business trip, Fai went with him...and Yui stayed here. He became distant, like part of him was gone.

"Soon enough, my other sisters started to get married and move away. It was just Yui and I for awhile until..." she broke off, tears filling her eyes. "He left. Yui had seemed so empty for so long, but one day he just...disappeared completely. There was no more life left in his eyes and by the next morning...he had left all together. My brother...his soul was gone. He was no longer breathing and...he was dead."

"How did..." I let this sink in. It is said that a body can exist without a soul, but it is a pointless existence. The body has no desire to be alive, and yet no real purpose in dying. It is just a hollow shell of a human being. If it remains this hollow for long enough...I suppose even the person's own heartbeat would grow tired and just...give up eventually.

"My father and Fai returned soon after. Fai was devastated...he couldn't bare it. He said that Yui's soul had left his body in search of the 'other half' which would have been him, and that it had just gotten lost along the way. He set off again, this time on his own, saying that he would find his brother's true self out there someday...and it's been just me and my dog Snoops alone here since."

"How long?" I asked, somewhat devoid of emotions, though unintentionally.

"Almost fifteen years now; Yui died when he was only 18. Fai has passed through from time to time to check in on me and of course our sisters still keep in touch, but our father has moved away all together...and none of us can really stay together for very long at a time now."

"I see. And when you saw me yesterday..."

"I thought you were Yui's soul, having finally wandered back home. I know it's irrational of me to jump to such conclusions, but...I really felt like it was Yui's presence."

"I understand," I said in the most comforting voice I could. "The Yui you knew and myself are actually very similar. Even if we are from different worlds and have different lives and souls and memories, we have something in common."

"You have the same essence."

"Exactly. Originally I was called Yui as well and had a twin brother named Fai, who would have the same essence as your brother Fai here. Unfortunately," I swallowed the lump in my throat and took a deep breath, "my twin brother is dead as well. For a long time I tried everything I could to do the impossible; to bring Fai back, even at the cost of my own life. To lose someone you are close to is always a hard sacrifice, but as a twin...it was like losing a part of myself.

"In his honor, I adopted Fai's name as my own, which is why my traveling companions call me Fai. I know now that I will never be able to restore a life that has been lost, which is why I originally began this journey. But still...it's a pain that will never heal and a void that will never fill."

"I'm so sorry," she said, now looking very downcast.

"Don't be," I told her. "Everything happens for a reason. I would give almost anything to have Fai back...but I wouldn't give up the reality that has already occurred in order to live out an alternate one. I have learned to accept things as they are and live my life as fully as I can without Fai. After all...I doubt he would've wanted me to only accept myself as a lost half of an incomplete soul."

"That's..." she looked me in the eyes and then threw her arms around my neck. "Yui. You really are the same as him."

Again, my arms moved to embrace her as if it was a gesture that my body itself remembered from somewhere. But it was so natural! How could I have not done this before? I...I knew her. I was supposed to and...

Tears slowly slipped out of my eyes. Why was I so attached to this woman I had just met?

_Yui. You belong here right now. Just give into it; this is alright._

"Yes," I whispered, too quietly for even her close ears to hear. "This is alright."

**A/N: Alright, going to keep it short and sweet here, just saying that I'd love to get some feedback on this first chapter. I know this probably isn't one of the craziest fandoms around, but maybe there's some of you out there reading this?...Somewhere…I feel so alone… **

**But I wouldn't if you'd drop me a review! Just something short if you like, just to prove to me that I'm not the only one who still loves Tsubasa Chronicles. I'd really like to hear from any of you, but until next time for now!**


	2. A Chance

**Hello again and thank you for reading! Just a quick note here this time, but I would like to include a revisement on my A/N of the last chapter. Although there are some things in this story harder to understand if you haven't read the manga, not every detail of this story is 100% in line with it. I have been re-reading the manga and found a few inaccurate portrayals reflected in this fan fic, but I would just like to point out that I am aware of them and they remain intentionally. **

**Anyway, thank you for reading and, as always I hope you enjoy!**

"So?" Kurogane leaned back against the outside wall next to me. The sun had gone down and Syaoran and Valerie were put up in their rooms for bed already. It was colder out now, but I thought the chill was refreshing; it helped to clear my head some, if nothing else.

"Always the impatient one, aren't we Kergie?"

"Just tell me what's going on," he rolled his eyes.

I sighed a little. "I'm still not entirely sure but...from what I know, Fai- that is to say the _real_ Fai- has an alternative presence in this world. The me of this world- Yui- passed away some time ago, but Fai believes his soul still exists in this dimension, though honestly I don't see that it's very likely. When we entered this world, Fai immediately, though only briefly, sensed my presence and I his, though I'm sure he- wherever he may be- is unaware that I am not the Yui he knows as his brother."

I sighed again. "This is where things get complicated. Now that I have been acknowledged on this world, it would be irrational to just leave without collecting more data. If I tried to, there's the possibility of our two presences meeting again during transportation, in which case it is likely that one of our souls would be lost somewhere between dimensions. Also, however, I'm afraid I shouldn't come into direct contact with the Fai on this world or else I could risk some unforeseen alter in his life or even my own."

"So what do we do? We can't just stay here and hide from him forever."

"Well yes, I'm aware of that. But like I said, I'm not sure about everything just yet. Even what I told you just now if purely observational knowledge; most of it may not even really be factual. I'll need some time to gather more information and then to think of what to do next. I'll try not to waste time, but I hope Syaoran and you won't mind waiting for now?"

"Of course not," he shrugged. Sometimes I wondered why he felt such a need to remain indifferent all the time when it wasn't even really necessary. "Don't...don't try to rush out of here for our sake. We don't mind waiting around here for awhile, especially if this is something important to you."

"Thanks, Kuro-pu. I'm glad you're so tolerant with me," I smiled.

"Yeah yeah," he shrugged. "Let's go try to get some sleep, okay?"

"Right," I nodded and took one last good look at the sky, trying to see the stars through a thin layer of clouds that had followed the night over us before following him in.

"One last thing," he turned to me, the more strict look that he'd reserved now for special occasions only appearing to occupy his face. "You'll tell me about everything that happens here, right?"

It caught me off guard a little. For several years now we'd all been out of habit of keeping secrets from one another. Why he chose now to lose faith in that unspoken agreement was rather mysterious, but I couldn't blame him for wanting to renew the trust pact we'd been enjoying. "Of course. I'll keep you updated on anything new I figure out."

"Not just that. Tell me...if things get bad for you here, okay?"

I breathed a light laugh. "You really can read me well now, can't you?"

"Sometimes that's just easier than waiting around for someone to tell you things on their own."

I nodded in agreement. "Alright. I'll let you know if anything happens."

"I'll count on it," he said in the 'both a threat and a promise' tone that only Kurogane had ever mastered, as far as I was aware.

_We were used to it. This was just the normal thing for us. We were so visible that they didn't bother to see us. We were so clear that they didn't bother to hear us. We were so real...that it wasn't even worth the effort to try anymore. Some people said we were alone in this way, but they weren't right. How could we be if we were already together?_

_Daddy left when we were four. We didn't know him very well since we were both so young, but we didn't really know anyone else well either. Still, it was sad. Everyone else was sad...so shouldn't we be too? But of course...we didn't cry like the others. We weren't like the others._

_But Mommy was the most sad._

"_Every time he leaves," she told us, "I'm just...afraid he won't make it back. It's silly of me, of course, but still..."_

_She was sick. Our mother was always sick. She couldn't even take care of us very much, but that was alright. We had our sisters for that; they were old enough and smart enough to do things. It made Mommy happy...I wished I could make Mommy happy too._

_When we were five, Mommy left too. But the older ones said that this was different; she _wouldn't_ be coming back. That time, we almost cried. Mommy was almost as close to us as we were to each other...but not quite. No one could ever be like that. They couldn't know us better than we knew ourselves._

"_Rita," he said to our oldest sister. She said she would make dinner, but she just sat on the floor, crying instead._

"_Would you like some help?" this time we spoke together. We did everything together. Everything always._

_She looked up at us. Her face was pale with pink streaks down her cheeks and very wet. She was very upset and only glared at us for a second._

"_What is wrong with you two?" her voice was different; it was devastated and angry. "Do you even _care_ what's going on?!"_

_We exchanged a glance and then looked back to her. "How much should we care?"_

_She flinched a little and then looked down away from us. "You're so different. I'll never understand." And then she told us to leave. That happened a lot; people didn't like it if we stayed too long._

_When we started school, it happened again. People didn't understand us and just wanted us to go away instead. But we still weren't alone...because we had each other to hold on to._

_They tried to put us in different classes...but I think I'm the only one who couldn't do it. He was alright and could do the work they gave him, but me...I needed him. I needed him to remember what to do and how to do it. How to think and solve...sometimes even how to move. I couldn't do it on my own. We needed each other...I needed him. Always._

"_That boy's lucky to have a twin," I heard the grown ups talking one day. "If it weren't for Fai, I'm afraid he wouldn't even function like a normal person. He's only half there." Those were the kinds of words Fai told me it was better not to hear._

_We were the same age, be he always took care of me. He acted older to protect me. Everyone said I wouldn't be here without him. That I wasn't really good for much of anything on my own. At the time, though, I didn't see that it would matter. I had Fai to help me remember to do things. I _was_ lucky._

I woke abruptly again and stretched my arms out under me so I was almost upright. Bad idea considering the still unstable headache that I figured wouldn't be going away anytime soon now.

"Was that..." I took a long, slow breath. "Just a dream?"

I looked around and found that it was still very early; the sun hadn't risen yet, but it shouldn't be too long now before it did. There was no way I was getting back to sleep after that, so I righted myself and stood up, sighing as it took me a moment to catch my balance. This world was having some pretty annoying effects on me, but gradually I was getting used to it.

Valerie's dog, Snoops, had apparently found himself most comfortable in with me last night and stirred groggily, doing little more than switching positions now that I was no longer there too. I smiled at the little brown creature and tried to stay quiet to not bother him any more for now. From what Valerie had said, he was pretty lazy and wouldn't want to wake up until plenty after the others.

Valerie had given me some loose pants and a long sleeved shirt to sleep in last night, though she apparently liked to keep her house fairly warm and I hadn't ended up needing the shirt at all. Still, I put it on for the sake of courtesy and quietly left the room I'd been put in, deciding to walk around the house a little to see if I could find something to keep myself occupied for a while until Valerie or the others woke up. I didn't want to make any noise or do something that might interrupt their sleep, so my options were rather limited. In the end I decided it best to step outside for a bit.

Now the shirt would really come in handy, seeing as how I was immediately bombarded by a frosty morning breeze the moment I stepped outside. I shivered while pulling the door silently shut behind me, but was overall pretty grateful for the temperature. The most part of my life was spent in a world shrouded in constant snow, so I was used to cold temperatures anyway. At times like this, in fact, it seemed like a cold breeze was what I _needed_ to clear my head.

I took a seat on the concrete steps of the front porch and leaned back on my arms. The dizziness was starting to subside a little so I took a deep breath and decided I might just be able to focus on that dream. It almost didn't seem right to call it that; a dream; it had been so realistic. Like I was actually there- or rather _here_ I suppose judging from the details I had made out that seemed to match those of this house. And I could almost swear that I felt Fai right there beside me again.

Without even realizing it, I revisited and analyzed that dream over and over again until the sun came up close to two hours later. The odd part was that, rather than fading slightly as the time passed or after trying to re-observe it, the dream only seemed to gather _more_ details. The clothes all those people were wearing; the marks on the wood floor beneath me; even details like the supposedly unfamiliar faces in the background.

By the time I broke from this sort of trance, I hadn't even realized how much time had passed. But my body was almost stiff with cold and from my ankles down was completely numb from the icy dew they had rested in. Almost like I had been trapped in that memory...wait...no, it was a dream. I couldn't have remembered something that hadn't happened to me! And the Fai of this world couldn't have projected it to me from _Yui's_ point of view. The possibility of me having picked up a real memory from someone else, whether they shared my essence or not, was very low. I would have to gather more information, but for now I would just deem it a very vivid dream.

I reestablished a few basic muscle movements to try to break up the frost that had formed in parts of my blood stream and walked around outside for a quick moment just to get myself in a slightly warmer set of circumstances before going back to the immediate heat inside.

The others were still in bed, I assumed, but that surely wouldn't be for much longer. According to a clock in the kitchen, it was now 6:45 and the house itself seemed to be beginning to wake up. An automatic coffee pot must have reached its alarm time, because it kicked on and began grounding the beans inside it. The sun was beginning to find its way inside through the white curtains in a window over the sink and birds outside began singing the world awake.

I took a seat in the kitchen and noticed a newspaper on the table that happened to be in a script I could decipher. This alone was rather peculiar, seeing as how the writing I learned originally in Seresu hadn't appeared to come up very often in our travels thus far. But seeing as how I had nothing better to do and was hopelessly curious about this world, I decided to read for awhile about the current events that really couldn't have been more irrelevant to me. But it was a way to pass the time and I had always loved reading, even if now it may be long intervals between times when there was anything I could understand.

A few minutes later, Valerie walked into the kitchen, looking only half awake. She rubbed her eyes tiredly but then seemed to jolt more awake as she saw me. "Oh! You're up!"

"Yes. I'm sorry, did I startle you?"

"No, I'm just not used to having others in the house yet I suppose. Have you been out here long?"

"Oh please don't worry about me. I'm often the first one up among my travelling companions anyway, so I don't mind a little alone time in the morning."

"If you say so," she nodded, beginning to fix herself a cup of coffee. "Would you like some? Or maybe you're ready for breakfast?"

"Please don't worry yourself; you're already being more generous than we could ever ask by letting us stay here at your home. It will only make me feel like I'm taking advantage of you if you start treating us as guests."

"I'm sorry," she laughed a little. "You're all probably used to this by now; I guess I'm just not accustomed to having others here too yet. Please tell me if there's something you'd like to do then."

"Actually, I'd love it if you let me help you with chores around the house later or something. I'm sure those other two will be anxious to go and find a temporary job or something to occupy their time, but I'm afraid I'm not in _that_ great of condition. I'd consider myself a pretty fair chef and pretty good with domestic chores as well, so if you'll let me help out around here I would feel much better about being allowed to stay."

She smiled and sat down across from me. "Really I don't mind it, but if it would make you feel better I can give you something to do. As you probably noticed, I'm not the neatest person in the world and my cooking's _certainly_ nothing amazing,- plus I'm afraid my job's workload has been increasing a bit these past few months- so it might be nice to have someone else helping out for awhile."

"Great!" I smiled, happy that we had established more of an equal grounds relationship, on the home front, anyway.

By about a half hour later, Valerie had showed me around the kitchen better and her and I began making breakfast. Kurogane was up soon after that and Syaoran followed shortly after him. Mokona, as usual, was still asleep but would probably be up as soon as it smelled the food. Predictably, Syaoran was already anxious to get out and do something in this new world and decided to head out after breakfast and search around for a job or way to find new information here.

"And what about you, Kuro-kun?" I asked, noticing his slight hesitation on the topic.

He seemed thoughtful still over this topic. "What if I did go with the kid? Would you really be fine here?"

"Why that's a silly question!" I tried to lighten the mood. It made me uncomfortable that he seemed at a rather lack of trust for me; it was like a painful reminder of a whole life I thought we'd moved on from. "I wouldn't strain myself or anything, of course. I'll be fine here."

"Plus Valerie can make sure everything's okay when she's here and Mokona will stay home with Fai too!" Mokona promised, hopping up on my shoulder.

"How very kind of you, Mokona," I smiled. "See? You have nothing to worry about."

Kurogane shrugged and finally seemed to lighten up a little more. "Alright. I guess we'll be off then, but take care."

"Take care yourselves," Valerie smiled. "And good luck with everything."

"Thanks. We'll see you later on," Syaoran said and the two of them headed out.

"Alright, I suppose we'll get to work now too...oh wait, I guess I didn't even tell you what I do, did I?" Valerie asked.

"I suppose not; the topic hasn't come up so far anyway." I said in a light tone.

"Oh, I'm so forgetful! I'm sorry, it must have slipped my mind. Well, I run a medicine shop here from home, though the shop part is on the other end of the house. I used to be apprenticing under the town's doctor when I was much younger, but when my other sisters had all moved away I needed to be home to take care of things here too. He was kind enough to appoint me his official pharmacist and all of the patients he sees come to me for their prescriptions to be filled. Just with the cold weather moving in I have to be stocked up and ready for the cold and flu season."

"Alright," I nodded.

"Things will be getting pretty busy soon, so I'll have to go set up shop properly. Would you be alright if I assign you a few chores for now?"

"That's fine by me," I assured her and waited as she scanned the room, seeming to grimace as she really noticed all the details.

"Goodness, I didn't even realize how messy things have been getting. Alright, I suppose if you could clean the kitchen a little that would be wonderful since you've been familiarized with it some, but like your friend said don't strain yourself."

"That's no problem at all," I smiled, glad to have something diverse to start with.

"Mokona will help to!"

"Oh how lovely of you! Thank you both so much and I'll be in my shop right down that hall if you have any problems. I'll even leave the door open if you'd like so I can hear if you need something, okay?"

"That's very kind of you. And don't worry about it; it's still you who's done all of us a favor by letting us stay here," I explained.

"Well that's no trouble at all. Alright, my shop is down that hall, so don't hesitate if you need me."

"Will do," I said and waved her away down a hall opposite the way of the rooms she'd put us in last night. Snoops trotted off behind her, now looking lively and awake, only stopping for a second to sniff and re-familiarize himself with me before heading off to the shop part as well. I smiled a little but figured not to give the dog too much attention or Mokona might get jealous.

From what I'd gathered, the house was one story high but stretched out in a long rectangular kind of shape. The kitchen was about the very middle of the house with her shop in one direction and four or five bedrooms in the other, all but hers usually unoccupied. There was a door in the kitchen that led out to the privacy fenced-in backyard, surrounded on all sides by thick hedges, and another on the opposite wall that led to what could either be classified as a large foyer or a small family room.

"Alright, Mokona, shall we start off with the dishes then?" I offered.

"Sure! Can Fai wash and Mokona dry?"

"I wouldn't have had it any other way," I smiled, handing Mokona a dish towel.

Mokona and I finished the dishes at a steady enough pace and washed the countertops while we were at it, seeing as how a lot of dish water was _mysteriously_ splashed out of the sink at some point or another. Then there was some sweeping, which we decided to go ahead and extend that to the halls as well. Valerie came back in not long after we finished that and looked around with delight.

"Oh wow, it looks amazing! You two must be ready for a break by now."

"Break time!" Mokona cheered. "Should we bring Syaoran-kun and Kuro-pu some lunch and see how they're doing?"

"That sounds like a pretty good idea," I agreed and Valerie smiled again.

"How about I make you something to take them, since you've been working so hard already? I'll have to stay here, but if you think you two will be fine alone," she offered.

"That sounds lovely," I said.

"You can go and change into some better clothes for going out if you'd like; I wouldn't want you getting too cold in your work clothes," she suggested and I nodded. She had already picked out several outfits for each of us from the previous residents of the house so we were well set as far as that went.

Mokona came with me back to the bedroom, keeping good at its promise to stay by my side when the others were gone, and hopped up on the dresser. Apart from that and the futon against the opposite wall the room was empty, but that could only be expected. After all, Valerie had said it herself; it had been quite some time since others had lived here with her.

I changed rather quickly into a pair of jeans left out and found that they were a perfect fit. Not too surprising, honestly though; if they had been Yui's or even Fai's before now of course they would be. But still, I think it was the first clothes other than my own that I didn't need a belt or tie of some sort to keep up.

"Do you think Syaoran-kun and Kuro-pu will be surprised to see us?" Mokona fantacized.

"Probably. Do you know how to find them?" I asked, pulling off my other shirt.

"Of course! Tracking down friends is one of Mokona's 108 secret talents!"

"How very convenient," I nodded, pulling myself into a long sleeved form fitting shirt a similar light blue to the one Syaoran had been wearing. I supposed he must have fit into some of Yui and/or Fai's older clothes, which might explain the vaguely similar color scheme we had here.

"Mokona is always convenient; it's not even one of my _secret_ talents!"

"Alright then, my convenient little friend, are we ready to go?"

"Yup! But Mokona wonders...is Fai sure he's up to this?"

"Of course I am; don't worry. I'm starting to get used to this world, even if it's only very slowly, so I'm feeling much better now than I was even just earlier."

"That's good; Mokona doesn't want Fai to be hurting because of somewhere _I_ brought us."

"Don't blame yourself by any means, Moko-chan!" I assured, holding a hand out for Mokona to hop into. "There was no way for you to even control which world we went to, much less predict that this one wasn't the best. Besides...it's an adventure, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but Fai needs to make sure to tell us everything, kay?"

"Of course," I agreed with a smile. It was a little disappointing to think that even after all this time we'd all been travelling together, they still hadn't let go of those incidents of the past. I was a little hurt that it seemed they still didn't trust me entirely, but I suppose they were all just trying to be cautious. After all, even now I could admit that I was hesitant to burden others with my problems, though of course I'd tell them important details.

"Alright, your lunch is ready to go. Will you be able to find your way to town and everything? I could send a friend with you if you'd like to help you find those other two." Valerie offered.

"No, that won't be necessary. Mokona here is pretty confident in finding them and I'll trust that opinion," I explained, taking the food basket she held out to us.

"That's just fine. But like I told your friends last night, if you need directions I'm sure anyone around here wouldn't mind pointing you in the right direction."

"That's nice. Thank you and we'll see you soon then," I waved and we headed out the front door. "Alright, you're officially the leader, Mokona, so tell me which way."

"Mmmm...Turn right! This road leads to town where Syao-kun and Kurgie are."

"Excellent," I complimented and followed Mokona's directions until we reached the town. It was nothing big or fancy, but still a nice, quaint little place. Most of the people were at their respective jobs or shops, though a few were enjoying the sun for lunch or just wandering about running errands or such. There hadn't been that many houses between Valerie's and the town, but from here I could see several more off in another direction and I assumed that the town led into a busier section that way as well.

"Okay, we're getting closer now. I think they should be...that way!" Mokona pointed to a little pathway between two rows of shops.

"Well, let's see..." I began walking in the direction of the pathway, but didn't even get all the way there before seeing Syaoran turn the corner out to meet us about half way, waving to someone behind him.

"Alright, I'll see you later," he called behind him and then turned and noticed Mokona and I. "Oh, hey guys! I was just about to go find Kurogane for lunch; is that what you're both here for?"

"You guessed it! Fai and Mokona brought you lunch from Valerie."

"So how's it going?" I asked as he pointed us in the direction to Kurogane.

"Really pretty well. I just got out of a shop where they print the books and newspapers for this and a few other towns. Today I was just sitting in and observing, but the manager offered me a temporary job tomorrow if I'm interested."

"Wow!" Mokona mused.

"That's interesting; how do you like it?"

"Well, it's a kind of thing I haven't tried yet so I think I'll stick with it for awhile and see how it goes."

"And what about Kergie-pi?" Mokona asked.

"He's just around the corner here," Syaoran pointed to a large open door as we rounded our way onto the next street. "You can ask him yourselves if you'd like."

"Oh goody!" Mokona smiled, hopping off my shoulder and over to what I figured must be a garage door of some sort judging from the structure and size. "Kuro-bu! We brought lunch; can you come with us?"

"Hm?" Kurogane turned around from the large vehicle he was standing over and looked at the three of us. "Oh, hey guys. Step inside if you'd like; I'll be done here in a minute."

"Oh, are these your friends, Mr. Kurogane?" an older man stepped into view, wiping some grease off his hands on a towel.

"Yeah. I was going to finish up here and then take a short break with them if you don't mind."

"Nonsense! Go now; you can finish later on. My costumers are going to start complaining if their cars are fixed too fast; no one will be able to get here and pick it up soon enough!"

"Alright," Kurogane said, almost reluctantly. He wasn't one to like walking away from a job, especially if it was so close to being finished. But I suppose his friends won out against perfectionism this time, seeing as how he set down the tool he'd been using and stepped away from the machine. "Let me just wash up really quick and I'll meet you guys outside."

Not but a few minutes later, we were all regrouped and walking off to the edge of town, where Syaoran said there would be a nice place where we could sit in the sun and enjoy our lunch. After finding a spot and situating our area, there was more room for us all to talk while we ate.

"Well, I found that mechanic guy you just met standing outside his shop there looking a little overwhelmed," Kurogane explained. "He said that two of his employees had to leave suddenly to be with family a few towns over for awhile and that he was overloaded with work and understaffed to boot. I told him I didn't know much about vehicles, much less from this world, but that I'd help him out any way I could. It's actually pretty simple mechanics, so it's a good job."

"Ooh, Kergie's so talented! He can go out and do any job he wants to," Mokona mused. "When he _wants_ to anyway."

"Oh well let's see you beat me when it comes to having a _desire_ to work," he challenged, but Mokona just stuck its tongue out in response. "So what about you, Syaoran?"

"Well, like I told Fai-san and Mokona, I found a printing house that said they could use a little help right now. Apparently, they're getting backed up on orders and need someone to help them catch up, even if it's not a long standing position. Today they were showing me how to work all the machines and equipment properly and I'll get to give some of them a try myself later on to see how I do."

"Aw, would you just listen to our boys, Moko-chan? So smart and eager to do something!" I fawned, getting a laugh from Mokona at least, though the other two just rolled their eyes.

"Mokona and Fai have been working hard too! We cleaned the whole kitchen already and made Miss Valerie very happy," Mokona bragged.

"That's great," Syaoran said. "Just don't do too much right off."

"Of course not! And Mokona has been making sure Fai is alright too, so you have nothing to worry about!"

"That's reassuring," Kurogane said in a sarcastic tone.

"Don't be mean, Kurga-lurga! Of course Mokona is trustworthy!"

"Oh don't worry about him, Moko-chan," I reassured. "Daddy's just a brute sometime, that's all."

"Gee, thanks for sticking up for me, _Mommy_." Kurogane played along, rolling his eyes.

"Now now, don't fight in front of Syao-tan; you'll set a bad example," Mokona scolded and then we all laughed. It was times like this that I appreciated having them. My friends. It was only with them that I'd ever really been able to have fun. To laugh out loud and enjoy the moment. For that, I was grateful.


End file.
